Perforating-machine.



N. POWER.

PEBIOBATING MACHINE.

urmorrron rmx oo'm, 1910.

1,031,468, l v Patented July 2,1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1- WW1/Wogen ma Kam @men/to@ eltl'oznu! N. POWER.

PEEFORATING MACHINE.

APPLIoATIoN FILED ooT.4, 1910.

1,031,468. Patented July 2, 1912.

WMe/am: gm Sme/Wto@ Zij? w-wmmzsag COLUMBIA PLANDGHAPH C0., WASHINGTON.D.

'N. POWER.

PERFORATING MAOHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0(1T.4, 1910. 1,031,468, Patent-,ea July 2, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

cuLUMBlA PLANOGRAPH co..w^slilNaroN, D. C

'UNITED STATES PATENT onrioii.

NICHOLAS POWER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

` PERFORATING-MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 191 2.

Application filed October 4, 1910. Serial No. 585,203.

for perforating strips of Celluloid or other `film travels through themachine.

material used in the manufacture of moving picture films.

The primary object of the invention 1s to produce a compact, durable andinexpensive machine of the character specified, by which strips of thinmaterial may be perforated along the margins with great accuracy inorder to insure exactly uniform spacing of the perforations.

In thev accompanying drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of theinvention only, but it will be understood that various modifications inthe form and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

In the drawings: Figure l, is a view partly in vertical section andpartly in -elevation of the perforating machine, a portion of thegearing being broken away to save space. Fig-2, is a View partly in planand partly in horizontal section in the plane 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, isa view in end elevation looking in the direction in which the fig. 4, isa detail view in vertical section on the line 4 4 of Fig. l.

In the several views corresponding parts are designated by similar'characters of reference throughout.

As in other machines of this class, the machine embodying the presentinvention comprises a bed along which the film travels, suitable filmguiding devices, a reciprocating punching mechanism and feeding devicefor the film. The feeding device comprises in addition to meansformoving the film forward step by step, certain locking devices bymeans of which the film is accurately locked after each advance, sothatthe holes punched by each operation of the punch are exactly spacedfrom the holes produced by the immediately preceding 0peration of thepunch.

As illustrated in the drawings, the machine comprises a main frame 1,which is preferably a casting of suitable material and provided atsuitable height above the base with the horizontal bed 2, which is bestshown in Fig. 2. This bed is provided throughout a greater portion ofits length with raised side portions 3, spaced apart suficientlytorcceive the film between and to allow a little clearance o-n eitherside. These films are ordinarily l-ginches in width, but vary slightlyso that theraised sides of the bed which are fixed in position cannot berelied upon entirely to guide the film properly to the punching device.Consequently I find it desirable to provide additional guiding meanswhich are also shown most clearly in Fig. 2. This guiding devicecomprises a pair of parallel bars or strips 4, arranged in recessesprovided for them at the sides of the film bed 2. To keep the guidestrips 4 always parallel I support them on pivoted links 5, which turnon pivots arranged in the median line of the film track. To insure theproper engagement of the guide strips 4 with the edges of the film, oneof the links 5 is provided with an extension 6, on one end of whichisconnected a light tensiony spring 7, the pull of which is justsufficient to insure engagement of the guide strips with the filmwithout buckling the film. To keep the film entirely fiat on the bed asit travels toward the punching device I provide a pair of metal rollers,8, which are pivoted in a small frame 9, and rest directly upon the filmas it lies in the film track. These rollers are heavy enough to hold thefilm flat and are preferably reduced in diameter between the ends, so asto confine the rubbing of the rollers on the film to the edge portions.To take care of inequalities in the thickness of the film, the frame 9,in which the rollers 8 are mounted, is held in position by verticalpins, l0, which permit the frame to move up and down on the pins.

The punching mechanism is arranged just The punches, 13, coperate with avplate 17, p

provided with suitable openings, and set into the film bed, 2, of themachine. Just below the plate 17, a chute 18 is arranged to receive thepunchings which drop from the film. Y

The film feeding mechanism is arranged immediately beyond the punchingmechanism and comprises aplurality of fingers, 19, mounted on a carrier,20. The feeding fingers, 19, are arranged to engage perforations at bothsides of the film and are preferably made a trifie smaller than thepunches, 13, so as to allow easy engagement 'of the fingers with theperforations. To permit easy replacement of the feeding fingers they arepreferably formed on plates 21 which are secured to the sides of thecarrier 20. Each plate 21 has a pair of feed fingers at each end with anopen space between, the purpose of which will presently appear. Themotion imparted to the carrier 2O is a compound motion resulting fromthe simultaneous vact-ion of two eccentrics 22, 23; the former impartinga horizontal movement and the latter a vertical movement. r[hese twoeccentrics are so proportioned and arranged that in the operation of themachine the first movement of the carrier from the position shown inFig. 1,

is upward to engage the film, then horizon` tal'to feed the film, thendownward to discngage the film, then horizontal to bring it back to theposition shown in Fig. 1, in readiness to engage the film again. Theeccentric 22 operates a link or pitman 24, which is adjustably connectedwith the shank of the carrier 20, which is provided with a slot toreceive the pin 25 to which the pitman 24 is secured. The pit-man is notdirectly connected with the pin 25 but is preferably mounted on aneccentric bushing 26 which is in turn secured upon the pin, as shown inFig. 4.

The movement of the film produced by the feeding mechanism abovedescribed, is substantially uniform for any setting of the adjustableconnection bet-Ween the pitman 24 and the shank of the carrier 20, butin order to insure perfect accuracy of spacing between the perforations,I provide also a combined locking and positioning mechanism whichengages the film after each operation of the feeding device. Thislocking and positioning mechanism comprises a plurality of fingers 27,supported on suitable reciprocating devices exactly above the carrier20. rIhe fingers 27 are formed in two plates 28 which are secured to aslide 29 which is operated by means of an internal cani 30, which isprovided with a groove 31 to receive a roller 31 carried by the slide29. The fingers 27 are rounded at their free end to insure engagementwith the perforations in the film without possibility of tearlng, andare of such cross section that they exactly" fill the perforationsformedl in the film. As no play is allowed the slides which carry thepunches and the locking pins, an exact distance is always obtainedbetween the punches 13 and the locking fingers 27, and any slightvariations in the feeding movement of the film after the operation ofthe punches is'corrected by the locking fingers which also serve to holdthe film perfectly still during the operation of the punches. In orderto strip the film from the punches I13 and t-he locking` 'fingers 27, ontheir upward movements, I provide a fixed stripper plate 32 above thefilm bed and in suitable relation to the punches and locking fingers.After passing 'from under the stripper plate 32 the film passes under aguide roller 33 and over t-he guide roller 34, thence to a sprocketwheel 35 with suitable spaced teeth, and finally over the guide roller3G, from which 'it Apasses to any suitable mechanism for winding it onreels or spools. The sprocket wheel 35 is provided to prevent vthewinding devices (not shown) from drawing the film forward too rapidly,and the sprocket is therefore rotated constantly at a uniforin speed. Asthe operation of the film feeding vdevice is intermittent in character'and the rotation of the sprocket 35 is constant, it is necessary toallow a small amount of slack in the film between the stripper plate 32and the sprocket 35, and it will be noted on examination lof Fig. 1,that a small loop or bow is formed in the film between the stripperplate 32 and the guide roller 33.

Motion is imparted to the various parts of the perforating machine fromany suitable source of power through suitably arranged gearing. Asillustrated in the drawings, power is initially supplied to a ina-inshaft 37 from which it is transmitted to a pinion 38, meshing with amaster gear 39, which in turn meshes with a pinion 40, which drives aneccentric 15, a pinion 41 which drives the c'ani 30, and a pinion 42which drives the eccentric 22. Motion is imparted to the eccentric 23through an idler pinion 43 arranged betweenthe pinion 42 and the pinion44, which drives the eccentric 23. On the same shaft with the pinion 44is a smaller pinion 45 which meshes with the idler gear 46, rigidlyconnected with a pinion 47, which in turn drivesthe gear 48 fast on thespindle of the sprocket 35.

The' operationof the perforating machine has been indicated in VJtheforegoing description and may be recapitulated as follows: The end ofthefilm to Abe perforated is passed under the pressure rollers andpositioned between the guide strips 4, between which it is moved forwardby hand until the end of it rests on the plate 17, `immediately underthe punches 13. The machine is then started and the punching mechanismoperated once. The film isy then advanced by hand until theperfor-ations formed by the single operation of the punch areimmediately above the first two fingers of the feeding device. The`machine is then started again and kept in operation. After the secondoperation of the punches the feeding devices engage the film and advanceit one space, when the punches again operate to form a third pair ofperforations. The feeding devices again advance the film one space, thusbringing the perforations first formed into position to be engaged bythe first pair of locking fingers. As the operation of the machinecontinues the film advances until the feeding fingers beyond the lockingfingers come into play, which then assist in feeding the film. After afew inches of the film have been perforated, the perforated portio-n canbe passed around the sprocket 35 and thence to winding devices of anysuitable character.

Having thus described my invention, as new, I desire to secure byLetters Patent:

l. In apparatus for perforating thin strips of material, the combinationwith a punch, of feeding devices adjacent to the punch and comprisingfingers positively moved to engage and disengage the openings punched inthe material, and locking fingers adapted to engage said openings aftereach operation 4of the feeding devices, thereby holding the material infixed position during the next punching operation of the'punch.

2. In apparatus for perforat-ing strips of thin material the combinationwith punching devices of mechanism for feeding said material and exactlyspacing the perforatio-ns therein, said mechanism comprising a pluralityof feeding fingers together with means for bringing said fingers intoengagement with and disengagement from openings formed in t-he materialand means for advancing said fingers in the direction of travel of saidmaterial, and locking mechanism operative after the advance of thematerial, said locking mechanism comprising a plurality of fingersadapted to engage and exactly fill the openings in the material and holdit stationary during the next operations of the punching devices.

3. In apparatus for erforating moving picture films, the combinationwith reciprocatory punching devices, of a carrier arranged adjacent toand beyond the punching devices in the direction of travel of the film,feeding fingers carried by said carrier and adapted to engage theperforations formed in the film, operating devices for said carrieradapted to impart reciprocatory movements thereto in planes at rightangles to each other, and film locking devices comprising a slidearranged above said carrier and having locking fingers adapted to engagethe perforations in the film to hold it stationary, and means forreciprocating said slide in such relation to the movements of the filmfeeding devices that the locking fingers will engage the filmimmediately after cach advance of the film.

4. In apparatus of the character described the combination with punchingdevices of film feeding devices adjacent to said punching devices andadapted to engage the film after the first operation of the punchingdevices, said feeding devices comprising a carrier having one or morefeeding fingers immediately adjacent to the punching devices and one ormore feeding fingers spaced at a considerable distance from the firstmentioned feeding fingers, and film locking devices above said carrierand between the sets of feeding fingers mounted thereon.

5. In apparatus of the character specified, film guiding devicescomprising a pair of parallel guide strips spaced apart to receive thefilm between them, a pair of parallel pivoted supports for said guidestrips and means for holding said guide strips in engagement with theedges yof said film when placed between them.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name hereto in the presence ofwitnesses.

NICHOLAS IOIVVER.

Witnesses:

N. D. ALLING, L. W. A'rwA'rnR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

